Leading Local: The Media’s Impact on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity series
Sponsored by the Calkins Foundation, the PNA Foundation’s Leading Local: The Media’s Impact on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity is a series of webinars focusing on systemic racism and bias and how news media companies in Pennsylvania can combat it. Sessions will help publishers, editors, reporters, ad directors, HR managers and other leaders to address hiring, news coverage, advertising. product design and audience engagement in order to recognize, improve and impact diversity, inclusivity and equity.
The PNA Foundation is able to offer these sessions at no cost for PNA members as well as to any members of press or news associations across the country. If you missed a session and are interested in obtaining the recording, please email the PNA Foundation.
PNA Foundation Fellows Funds were instrumental in the creation of Spotlight PA’s groundbreaking statewide diverse source database. We encourage all Pennsylvania newsrooms to utilize this valuable resource as they work to improve diversity efforts and better reflect the communities they cover. Explore the database and search for sources by name, area of expertise and location by clicking here.
Leading Local: The Media’s Impact on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity schedule:
Tuesday, March 30, 2021, 12 p.m.
Respect at Work: Building a Culture of Respect
Harassment in the workplace is a serious and widespread problem. Respect at Work™ is designed to provide a holistic approach to creating workplace cultures where all employees are valued. Focusing on core tenets of safety, equality, and respect, this training invites participants to explore ways to prevent and respond to disrespectful behavior in their workplaces.
Attendees said: “Important reminders and valuable insights.”
Friday, May 21, 2021, 11 a.m.
Amplifying Diverse Voices in Your Coverage and Newsroom
From small to large newsrooms, diversity, equity and inclusion are being successfully addressed. Whether it’s been done by focusing on particular audiences, establishing a database of diverse sources, creating different language editions, hiring a more diverse staff or reporting on certain topics, how have they moved forward? We’ll learn the paths – from baby steps to leaps – that have made a difference, grown readership and amplified diverse voices.
Attendees said: “Lively discussion. Engaging panel members.” “Such good ideas!” “Enlightening and very important discussion.”
Friday, June 18, 2021, 12 p.m.
Ten Steps to More Inclusive Reporting
Explore ten steps that you and your newsroom can take to produce more diverse, equitable and inclusive reporting. This session features a Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellows project completed by Melba Newsome, RJI Fellows Class of 2020-21. Using research and findings from her fellowship, Newsome will outline the necessary steps and lead participants through an evaluation of published journalism for diversity and inclusive reporting. From common challenges to rethinking the whys and wheres of diverse sources to understanding and overcoming barriers, Newsome details what you can do to be more inclusive storytellers.
Thursday, August 12, 2021, 12 p.m.
Seeing the Whole Community: Diversity and Inclusivity through Design
Communities, readers and audiences want to see themselves reflected in your local news coverage. Not just through words and stories, but also through the visuals, photos, art and designs in your various print and digital products. Doing so requires you to look, listen and learn.
This session will help editors and reporters visually cover their whole community. Topics include visual inclusion, intention and diversity as well as making tough visual calls.
Attendees remarked: “A lot of common sense. You can’t cover a community without reaching out to and understanding them. Jotted down 5 or 6 tips …”
Thursday, October 8, 2021, 12 p.m.
Community Engagement: Creating A Successful Spanish-Language Section
Be a voice. Recognize and reach more readers and increase engagement in your community by creating Spanish-language products.
Originally designed to be a four-month, Facebook-funded project examining COVID-19’s impact on the Latinx population of rural Chatham County, North Carolina, La Voz evolved into an ongoing project. Now, 14 months later, La Voz de Chatham provides Latinx-focused news and information through a variety of platforms, including their legacy print newspaper, English and Spanish web and social media platforms and a quarterly Spanish-language print product.
Attendees commented: “ We are a small team of journalists and it is difficult to cover everything and make sure we are covering things in an equitable and respectful manner. Finding out how to make adaptations that could help us more in those efforts is always a help.”
Thursday, January 27, 2022, 12 p.m.
Enhancing Newsroom Diversity Efforts through Source Data and Auditing
As the conversations about race, equity and inclusion continue, Pennsylvania newsrooms are working to acknowledge and improve their diversity efforts. While considering not only staffing, editors and reporters are also grappling with their coverage and sources.
Spotlight PA’s diverse source database was a ground-breaking statewide resource when it debuted in 2020, featuring more than 120 diverse sources searchable by expertise, location and name. Newsrooms across Pennsylvania are encouraged to utilize it to ensure that their work better reflects the communities they serve. Expanding upon these efforts, Spotlight PA is building a follow-up source auditing platform that creates a baseline of source diversity while producing data for accountability.
Join us for an informative webinar detailing these programs and resources. You’ll not only learn how and why they are imperative to inclusive coverage, but also how to most effectively use them in your newsroom, large or small.
Presented by Christopher Baxter, Executive Director and Editor in Chief, Spotlight PA. He will be joined by Aubrey Nagle, Project Editor, Reframe, at Resolve Philly.